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US Secy Visit
Delhi-Lahore bus frequency up
Jayalalithaa, Sasikala exchange garlands
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PMK patches up with DMK
Cong goes all out to reinforce ‘pro-farmer’ image
Sonia keen on ‘one man, one post’
More sops by Cong to woo AP voters
BJP vows to support women quota Bill
Now, Thackeray launches tirade against ‘outsiders’
Natwar quits RS, Cong
Evaluate evidence of child witness on quality: SC
Canada’s envoy to India to head IDRC
Bhutan army cracks down on Maoist rebels
Excise Scam
Builder Murder Case
Monserrate, wife out on bail
Another case against kidney racket kingpin
3 ambassadorial appointments announced
Rao elected WAAS Fellow
ONGC cautions job-seekers
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US Secy Visit
New Delhi, February 21 Gates, who has already left the US yesterday on a nine-day visit around the world that will also take him to Australia, Indonesia and Turkey, during his sojourn in India, would be meeting defence minister A.K. Antony besides other senior officials of the ministry. India and the US would also be holding a joint briefing on the talks held between officials of the two countries during Gates’ visit. Officials here said with India scouting for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA), when Gates meets Antony, he is expected to bring a sales pitch for American companies. The visit also assumes importance in the wake of American company Lockheed Martin recently winning the C-130J Super Hercules contract from India and it, along with Boeing, raising the pitch recently at the just concluded DefExpo. While Lockheed Martin shied away from going into its commitments in the proposal it has made in regard to the freight planes brought out by the government, Boeing was more forthcoming and it clearly said it would be manufacturing 108 of the 126 combat aircraft in India. Although last year it had said that the company was not willing to transfer the technology to India but its latest stance reflects paradigm shift in its efforts to garner the contract. In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell, when asked whether Gates will press the Indian government to buy potential Lockheed or Boeing planes on Tuesday, replied: “The secretary is always an advocate for US defence companies”. “He believes that these nations are going to arm themselves, going to fortify themselves, and it’s best that they do so with us,” Morrell added. Officials here added that besides Gates bringing up the arms sales issue with India, the focus would also be on shared security interests in the region and around the world. India and the US have in recent times been holding strategic security exercises and Washington has been seeking greater cooperation from New Delhi in its war against terrorism. Incidentally, Gates’ trip would be overshadowed by Pentagon plans to shoot down a defunct spy satellite. He travelled first to Hawaii, the headquarters of the US Pacific Command and a base for US warships to be part of the attempt to shoot down the satellite.
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Delhi-Lahore bus frequency up
New Delhi, February 21 The Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus service will soon be halting at Lahore to enable passengers to embark and disembark. Moreover, the frequency of the Delhi-Lahore bus service has been increased from two trips per week to three trips per week from each side. The new arrangements will come into effect from March 17, 2008. In another development in this cricket-crazy subcontinent, the Pakistan Cricket Board’s reported proposal to the BCCI for scheduling a week-long tour of the Indian cricket team to Pakistan has yet to come up before the ministry of external affairs. The MEA will be taking a view on it only after the BCCI approaches it for clearance. The PCB has asked for scheduling three one- day internationals, all in Lahore, to minimise stress on the Indian team. The decisions on bus service were taken at the first meeting of the India-Pakistan Standing Committee on Delhi-Lahore, Amritsar-Lahore and Amritsar-Nankana Sahib Bus Services held here today. The Indian delegation was led by Saroj Kumar Dash, joint secretary (transport), ministry of shipping, road transport and highways, while the Pakistan delegation was led by Mohammad Abbas, additional secretary, ministry of communications. A joint statement at the end of the talks said both sides noted with satisfaction the continuing operations of the bus services and discussed further measures for its improvement. In context of the Delhi-Lahore bus service, the two sides decided to rationalise the bus fare. In addition, the quota for the return tickets would be increased from the existing six seats to 10 seats. The two sides agreed that en route, the Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus service would make a halt at Lahore whereas the Lahore-Amritsar bus service would continue to operate as per the existing arrangement. Apart from facilitating greater people-to-people contact, the decision is also commerce-driven.
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Jayalalithaa, Sasikala exchange garlands
Chennai, February 21 Jayalalithaa and Sasikala reached the famous Amirthakadeswarar temple in Thirukkadaiyur town in Nagapattinam district early morning and performed “Gaja puja” to a temple elephant. She also worshipped and participated in a special “yagna”. Jayalalithaa was draped in a green saree, considered to be a lucky colour for her, and Sasikala in yellow, the sacred colour for Hindus, when in presence of temple priests, they exchanged garlands at the temple. Hindu couples usually celebrate their “Sashtiabtha purthy” at the Amirthakadeswarar temple when the husband attains 60 years of age. While Jayalalithaa’s 60th birthday according to Hindu astrology was today, her birthday according to the English calender is on February 24. Jayalalithaa also participated in the “yagna” and special poojas and also donated cows and silk sarees to the poor. Other than Jayalalithaa and Sasikala’s close relatives, none were allowed during the ritual. A huge crowd had gathered but they were controlled by local AIADMK men. Sasikala, married but estranged with her husband Natarajan, has been a close confidante of Jayalalithaa for more than two decades and had shot into controversy many times because of their relationship. She is always seen accompanying the AIADMK supremo at all public functions.
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PMK patches up with DMK
Chennai, February 21 PMK founder member told the media after calling on Tamil Chief Minister M.
Karunanidhi: “We will be in this alliance 200 per cent for the next Lok Sabha polls.” Both the leaders discussed political issues for 40 minutes at Karunanidhi’s residence and thrashed out their differences. The meeting came after almost a year since the PMK began criticising the state government in tune with the opposition parties on various
issues. Ramadoss, whose party has two union ministers including his son, union health minister Dr Anbumani
Ramadoss, in the UPA government had even gone to the extent of asking Tamil Nadu to emulate Narendra
Modi-ruled Gujarat and impose prohibition in the state. He is even opposed to entry on corporates in to retail trade, setting up of a satellite town to ease the congestion in the state capital and also had instigated people to grab lands, which they had long ago sold to the state housing board. He had even announced that the PMK would independently contest the next Assembly elections by leading a different alliance and come to power in Tamil
Nadu. A disgusted Karunanidhi had not only said he would be forced to reconsider the alliance with PMK but scoffed at Ramadoss for making such tall claims.
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Cong goes all out to reinforce ‘pro-farmer’ image
New Delhi, February 21 With finance minister P. Chidambaram slated to present this year’s Budget in a week’s time, scores of farmers were ferried to Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s residence today in a well-orchestrated campaign to press for the early implementation of their demands. The Congress is keen to stake ownership of the government’s “aam aadmi” programmes before the agenda is hijacked by the Left parties whose leaders have succeeded in projecting themselves as the true spokespersons for the poor and weaker sections. Delegations of farmers from Haryana, Rajasthan and Maharashtra spent over two hours narrating their problems to the Congress president and urged her to ask the UPA government to announce a package of incentives for the small farmers. They gave a graphic account of the agrarian crisis, which has gripped the country, that, they said, was a result of the heavy burden of debt, lack of adequate power and high costs of inputs. The farmers submitted a detailed memorandum to Sonia Gandhi in which they demanded that the government waive their loans, reduce interest rates on farm loans, ensure a remunerative price for their crops and implement a rehabilitation and resettlement package for farmers whose lands had been acquired for development projects, including SEZs. Rohtak MP Deependra Singh Hooda, who accompanied the Haryana contingent, said they sought a special compensation package for the farmers in their state as they had suffered huge crop losses due to the winter frost. Pointing to the farmers’ suicides in Vidharbha region, the Maharashtra contingent made a strong case for a complete loan waiver for distressed farmers and not just a waiver of the interest component.
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Sonia keen on ‘one man, one post’
New Delhi, February 21 While junior ministers like Ajay Maken, Prithviraj Chavan and Jairam Ramesh were involved in party work several months ago, the Congress president recently appointed three Cabinet ministers — Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, Suresh Pachauri and Saifuddin Soz — as presidents of crucial state units. Dasmunsi is handling the information and broadcasting ministry as well as parliamentary affairs, Pachauri has department of personnel and parliamentary affairs while Soz is the in charge of water resources.
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More sops by Cong to woo AP voters
Hyderabad, February 21 In the ongoing game of competitive populism, the ruling party wants to maintain an upper hand in enticing the voters with Assembly elections just over a year away. Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy is understood to have asked the officials of the finance and housing departments to work out modalities for waiver of the loans obtained by about 8.5 lakh poor families for construction of houses “Indiramma” Housing Scheme. As per the proposal, the waiver will be applicable to those who had obtained loans up to December 2007. It is estimated that on an average each of the 8.5 lakh families will benefit up to Rs 45,000. The weaker sections housing programme is one of the key focus areas of the Congress government, which has earmarked a whopping Rs5,850 crore in the 2008-09 budget and set a target of completing 30 lakh houses during the year. “AP stands as a role model to the rest of the country in housing programme for the poor. So far, under two phases of “Indiramma” programme, 45.45 lakh houses have been sanctioned and are under various stages of completion,” the Finance Minister K Rosaiah said.
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BJP vows to support women quota Bill
New Delhi, February 21 “We will support the Women’s Reservation Bill in any form if the Congress-led UPA government presents it in the coming Budget Session of Parliament,” senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani said while addressing a BJP women’s wing rally here. The massive rally, comprising women workers of the saffron party from across the country, was organised by the BJP Mahila Morcha to protest against the UPA government’s failure to present the Bill in the last 11 sessions of the 14th Lok Sabha. Attacking the UPA government, Advani pointed out that the Common Minimum Programme of the UPA did not utter a word about the welfare of women. He reminded party workers that the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee had implemented several welfare schemes for the betterment of womenfolk and initiated various measures to empower them socially, politically and economically. The former deputy prime minister said Indian women did not have to fight for the right to franchise unlike in Britain where this right was given only in 1928 after fierce agitation. Still, the other political parties in the country were not favouring women’s reservation. The BJP’s assertion for tabling of the Bill comes close on the heels of the passage of a resolution by the party’s National Council according 33 per cent reservation to women in its party posts. Demanding that 33 per cent reservation should be provided to women forthwith in Parliament and state Assemblies, BJP national president Rajnath Singh said that “a few political parties are doing great injustice by opposing the Women’s Reservation Bill.” “We are in favour of women’s reservation. The BJP has taken up the challenge to provide 33 per cent reservation for women. We have done our duty by providing 33 per cent reservation to women in our party structure,” he told the gathering at Ramlila Grounds here. Accusing the Congress-led UPA of cheating the common man, youth, farmers and women, former BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu said, “The time has come to teach a befitting lesson to the UPA.” Senior BJP leader and deputy leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj said women must be provided 33 per cent reservation and their quota must be ensured in the coming general elections. “The UPA government did not make any attempt to introduce the Bill. Even the draft Bill is not ready,” she alleged. The proposed legislation that guarantees 33 per cent seats in Parliament and state legislatures for women was drafted first by the H.D. Deve Gowda-led United Front Government. The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on September 12, 1996. Though it has been introduced in Parliament several times since then, the bill could not be passed because of lack of political consensus.
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Now, Thackeray launches tirade against ‘outsiders’
Mumbai, February 21 In an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamna, Bal Thackeray said criminal elements from other states were finding their way into Mumbai. Hitting out at Union railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav for his threat to hold the Chhat Puja in Mumbai, Thackeray asked him to observe the festival in Chennai instead. So far, Bal Thackeray and his son Uddhav had sounded conciliatory towards migrants in a bid to make the Shiv Sena an all-inclusive party. After the latter celebrated UP Divas in Mumbai, Raj Thackeray and the MNS launched a violent campaign against North Indian migrants earlier this month. Observers interpreted Raj's move as an attempt to wean the traditional Marathi voters from the Shiv Sena. Today, Bal Thackeray seemed to acknowledge that Raj's manoeuvres were having an effect on the Shiv Sena's traditional vote bank. “Lalu, who has turned Bihar into a hell, should hold a mela of Biharis in Tamil Nadu that is now under the control of his ally at the Centre,” Thackeray said. He added that Lalu could thus protest the decision by the Karunanidhi government to introduce Tamil in schools in that state. Though the Saamna piece did not acknowledge Raj’s campaign, the tone indicated that the Shiv Sena was protesting against attempts by the Congress to appease the North Indian lobby. Migrants from the North account for between 30 and 35 per cent of Mumbai's population and the Congress had recently mooted the idea of conducting the proceedings in the BMC in Hindi. Thackeray said the Shiv Sena would not allow Hindi to be used as an administrative language in the Mumbai municipal corporation. He further demanded that politicians who were pursuing the introduction of Hindi in the BMC should be put in jail. "The Congress should first introduce Hindi in Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkota and Guwahati first," Thackeray said.
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New Delhi, February 21 He met Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari in the day and later sent his resignation letter. The septuagenarian leader said he has resigned from the primary membership of the Congress and a letter to this effect was sent yesterday to party president Sonia Gandhi. Singh, once a close associate of Gandhi, turned her critic after the Iraqi oil-for-food scam broke out and he was forced to resign from the government in November 2005. “You will come to know,” was his response when asked about his course of action and whether he would be joining the BJP. — PTI
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Evaluate evidence of child witness on quality: SC
New Delhi, February 21 “The evidence of a child witness is not required to be rejected per se, but the court as a rule of prudence considers such evidence with close scrutiny and only on being convinced about the quality thereof and reliability can record conviction, based thereon,” a Bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and P. Sathasivam ruled. The court said since there was no clear parameters laid down in the Evidence Act for determining the evidence of a child witness and taking it into account, a child of a tender age could be allowed to testify if he had “intellectual capacity to understand questions and give rational answers thereto.” The ruling came on an appeal of several accused in the murder of a woman which was witnessed by her minor daughter of 13 years of age, who not only saw her being done to death but alson being buried in a field. On the basis of her evidence, the accused persons were convicted and awarded life sentence by the trial court, which the Bombay High Court also upheld. The apex court in the case found the evidence of the child trustworthy and dismissed the appeal of the accused.
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Canada’s envoy to India to head IDRC
New Delhi, February 21 “Malone is an accomplished diplomat and respected scholar,” Canadian foreign minister Maxime Bernier said announcing the appointment. “His immense experience in the field as well as in academic research covers areas such as international economic trends, conflict prevention and human rights. He will be a great asset to the Centre”, he added. Malone joined the Department of External Affairs in 1975 and served in increasingly senior positions in Ottawa, Cairo, Amman and New York. He is currently Canada’s High Commissioner to India and non-resident Ambassador to Bhutan and Nepal, managing Canada’s largest diplomatic missions abroad. From 1998 to 2004, he was president of the International Peace Academy in New York, an independent non-profit research organisation. He has taught at a number of universities in Canada, France and the US and has published numerous books and articles on international relations. The IDRC is a crown corporation created by Parliament in 1970 to help developing countries use science and technology to find practical, long-term solutions to the social, economic and environmental problems they face. Support is directed towards building an indigenous research capacity to sustain policies and technologies that developing countries need to build healthier, more equitable and more prosperous societies. The IDRC works collaboratively with many federal government departments. In New Delhi, where the IDRC has located one of its six regional offices, Malone said: “I will be tremendously sorry to leave India, an assignment I have loved. But I am delighted to be offered the opportunity to work with the very impressive IDRC Board and staff on a broad range of issues highly relevant to India and on which India’s leadership will be of systemic importance to development efforts in the rest of the world.”
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Bhutan army cracks down on Maoist rebels
Guwahati, February 21 According to security sources, the Sashastra Seema Bol (SSB) deployed along the Indo-Bhutan border is closely monitoring the development in the neighbouring kingdom.The RBA men have so far destroyed two Bhutanese Tiger Force (BTF) camps and arrested 16 militants with arms and ammunition. The RBA launched the crackdown in the wake of growing activities of the BTF that triggered two blasts recently in the Bhutan areas bordering north Assam districts.Bhutan’s state-run newspaper, Kuensel, reported that the Bhutan authorities believed that the Maoist rebels from Nepal had sneaked into its territory through Assam. However, a highly-placed source in the SSB which has deployed six battalions along the border with Bhutan, claimed that the Maoist guerrillas might have entered Bhutan from Nepal via the hills of Darjeeling and the New Jalpaiguri areas in North Bengal. A senior official of the Assam police also said it had not found any concrete evidence to accept Bhutan’s claim that Maoist rebels had entered the kingdom from Nepal through Assam.
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Excise Scam
Dehra Dun, February 21 The BJP leaders sharing dais with him in the news conference here today were left red-faced as Rawat, a former Congress minister, who held the excise portfolio in the ND Tiwari government, termed the hullabaloo created by the then Opposition led by the BJP over alleged excise scam was politically motivated. The issue was highlighted so much that the BJP legislators did not allow the proceedings of the House for three days demanding enquiry into the scam. But the Congress had then stood behind Rawat. The issue was part of the BJP poll manifesto in the Assembly elections held last year. Even the Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri, who was then MP from Pauri Garhwal, had also joined his party’s demand. Ironically, the BJP that won over Rawat last year due to personal efforts by Khanduri is now being targeted in the campaigning by the Congress over the issue. Rawat is known to have left the Congress due to his differences with its Central leadership.
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Builder Murder Case
New Delhi, February 21 Jain was arrested by the Crime Branch of Delhi police yesterday after he failed to satisfy the branch officials during interrogation and was taken in remand for a day from the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Alok Agarwal. He was arrested in connection with the murder of Vijay Yadav, who was gunned down by eight men at Hauz Quazi’s Sita Ram Bazar in Old Delhi on September 29 last year. According to the police, his name surfaced in the murder case when one Uttar Pradesh gangster Dimple Tyagi was shot dead in an encounter and his accomplices told the police that they had also killed Vijay Yadav at the behest of Ashok, who had paid them Rs 5 lakh for carrying out the killing out of a property dispute.
— UNI
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Panaji, February 21 The court directed that the beneficiaries should report to the police station every day and that they should submit a surety of Rs 25,000 each. The lower court had yesterday rejected their bail and remanded Monserrate to seven days police custody and his wife to judicial custody. Monserrate, along with a large number of his followers, allegedly raided the police station in the heart of the capital city and resorted to vandalism injuring several cops besides setting fire to a police vehicle on Tuesday night. The police burst teargas shells and lathicharged the unruly mob to bring the situation under control. The injured included city major Tony Rodrigues and some women cops. Earlier, the controversial legislator, trying his best to find a ministerial berth in Digambar Kamat government, staged a sit-in 'dharna' in front of the station house, demanding immediate suspension of a police inspector who allegedly was acting in collusion with rival goons. The legislator complained that the cops in retaliation to the attack on the police station, had raided his bungalow in Taleigao and ransacked it, besides his costly vehicles. — Agencies
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Another case against kidney racket kingpin New Delhi, February 21 The CBI registered the case a day before Kumar’s present remand of 14 days, taken in connection with the Gurgaon case, expires. The registering of a fresh case would enable the agency to seek a longer remand from the court. The new case pertains to alleged kidney transplant racket in Moradabad, which was registered against Kumar and others in the last week of January. This case was also transferred to the CBI after the Haryana government handed over its case to the investigation agency on February 8. — PTI
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3 ambassadorial appointments announced
New Delhi, February 21 Biren Nanda has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Indonesia. Asit Kumar Nag has been appointed as the next High Commissioner to Seychelles. Both are presently joint secretaries at headquarters. Mahesh Kumar Sachdev, presently Ambassador of India to Norway, has been appointed as the next High Commissioner to Nigeria, in succession to
H.H.S. Viswanathan.
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Bangalore, February 21 Based in San Francisco, USA, WAAS is the only Academy having a worldwide network of Fellows from diverse culture, nationalities and intellectual disciplines, an ISRO release said. — PTI
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ONGC cautions job-seekers
Dehra Dun, February 21 Head, corporate communications, ONGC, Dehra Dun, Anil Raja Vijan said some fake organisations and individuals were sending job offers for various posts in the ONGC to unsuspecting people through e-mail. The company had advised public not to get trapped by such fraudulent advertisements or job offers.
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